Expecting an artist to work for free when others are being paid is insulting! It’s amazing how many people still think a painter, writer, actor, model, photographer, dancer, musician, dj, etc… should work for free unless they are “famous” (and even then…)

With out the “talent” famous or otherwise, there is nothing, so have you ever wondered why you (the artist) are at the end of the financial food chain? Why you, unlike everyone else, are asked to “donate” what you do for free because…

“It will be good exposure for you.” ~opportunist

To continue; ever hear of a customer trying that argument on the new car dealership, restaurant, grocery store or bookshop down the road? The answer is no! The primary reason is that those businesses know what the art community has forgotten, which is: What we have to offer is of great value!

What does that have to do with you the artist? Simple answer…EVERYTHING! […Read more…]

As we approach All Hallows Eve it seemed appropriate to regale you, over the next few weeks dear reader with a few tales of the fantastic. To start us off, I submit for your perusal; this quaint little tale of a cemetery Warder who gave in to temptation and played an ill-fated joke on one of the dead.

The warder looked out at the mid-hour of night,
Where the grave-hills all silently lay;
The moon-beams above gave so brilliant a light,
That the churchyard was clear as by day:
First one, then another, to open began;
Here came out a woman – there came out a man,
Each clad in a shroud long and white.

…I was informed by wordpress that some of you will no longer be notified when I post anything. When I found this out I was stunned, and all my “likes” will vanish too. (They Have) But what can I do wait until I get more subscribers and “likes” to loose? I waited a few days and lost 3 more “like” on this post too.
Wordpress.com charges alot for more features, (I am an artist after all, and every dime counts…Oy Vay!) and they can change their minds on lot of things I have no control over.

The good part of this move is:

I’ve been away from blogging for a while due to illness, and now I get to go deeper into the world behind the world.

Over the upcoming months there will be new Artist Alerts, How to’s (Art, business and how to be in a room with people and not sound like an idiot when talking about your art) interviews, a new music album, paintings and other goodies.

Here’s a few samples:

Groups who want artists to contribute their art to them for various reasons including auctions will often tell you that you can take the fair market value of the art that you create as a deduction on your taxes. Unfortunately, this is incorrect.

The ugly truth of the successful is that luck was the single most important ingredient to their success. The idea that hard work equals success is a myth, even the term is suspect. Saying hard work is like saying wet water. So why do we persist in this fantasy? Fear of the reality, all things are a matter of luck.

Fear of not having complete control of our lives.

The implications to an economy or country where a person can become homeless NOT because of laziness, but because they are unlucky is huge. One might go as far as saying world changing. So what is this mysterious thing that is with us always? What is Luck?

Any artist worth their salt has a pinch of madness in the mix that makes them what they are. In other words, artists are not made they are born. Or at least born with different brain wiring which may predispose them to devote themselves to the life.

A 2014 study have seen results suggesting this.

“Structural brain differences in relation to expertise have been demonstrated in a number of domains including visual perception, spatial navigation, complex motor skills and musical ability.” — Lead author Rebecca Chamberlain from KU Leuven, Belgium.

““The distinction between sanity and insanity is narrower than a razor’s edge, sharper than a hound’s tooth, more agile than a mule deer. It is more elusive than the merest phantom. Perhaps it does not even exist; perhaps it is a phantom. ” – Philip K. Dick, VALIS

Studies—most notably from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute—have begun to suggest a biological mechanism: highly creative healthy people and people with schizophrenia have certain brain chemistry features in common.

Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute have conducted brain scans on creative people. These studies indicate similarities in the brain chemistry and structure of highly creative people and those suffering from schizophrenia and autism.

Being an artist is like pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone, not everyone can do it.

So have you ever wondered why you (the artist) are at the end of the financial food chain? Why you, unlike everyone else, are asked to “donate” what you do for free because…

“It will be good exposure for you.” ~opportunist

*By the way, you can’t even write off your donation for full market value. (See end of this Blog)
**I’m not against donating art, I do it every year, this is just one of many examples of why artists starve through no fault of their own.

To continue; ever hear of a customer trying that argument on the new car dealership, restaurant, grocery store or bookshop down the road? The answer is no! The primary reason is that those businesses know what the art community has forgotten, which is: What we have to offer is of great value!

What does that have to do with you the artist? Simple answer…EVERYTHING!

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ~Aristotle

There is nothing of our modern world that an artist hasn’t had a hand in creating […Read more…]